Where Does The Kalahari Desert Lie? - WorldAtlas.com Where Does The Kalahari Desert Lie? The Kalahari is a massive area of semi-arid savanna covering parts of Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. The Kalahari Desert in Namibia. 5. Description The Kalahari Desert stretches across an area of 900,000 square kilometers, in the three African countries of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Up to 70% of the land in Botswana, the eastern third of Namibia, and the northernmost parts of South Africa are all occupied by this desert. The Kalahari, unlike a true desert, has a semi-arid climate that supports vast tracts of sandy savanna, and a considerable diversity of flora and fauna lives therein. The landscape of the Kalahari is mostly flat, with an average elevation of around 1,000 meters above sea level in most parts of the desert. The Boteti River, in Botswana, is the only permanent surface water source in the desert. 4.

Historical Role Scientists estimate that the Kalahari Desert was formed between 65 and 135 million years ago in the Cretaceous Period. Since then, the desert has faced both periods of higher precipitation and greater aridity than the present prevailing conditions. It is possible that the dry riverbeds of the Kalahari and the Makgadikgadi Depression were formed during such periods of higher precipitation. Historical evidence proves that the San Bushmen of Africa were the ancient occupants of the Kalahari Desert region. The Bantu people, including tribes like the Tswana, the Kgalagadi, and the Herero, are currently residents of the desert along with the traditional San people, and these others arrived much later, towards the end of the 18th Century. In 1849, David Livingstone, a Scottish medical missionary, and William C. Oswell, an English explorer, were the first Europeans to cross the Kalahari Desert. In more recent years, Europeans arrived in the Kalahari primarily for commercial purposes, and only a single European settlement (in the Ghanzi District) existed in the region as late as the 1890’s. 3.

Modern Significance Presently, the Kalahari Desert serves as the homeland for Bantu-speaking African tribes and the Khoisan-speaking San people. The vast stretches of savanna in the region allow the locals to rear cattle and goats for meat and milk. Corn, sorghum, and pumpkins are also cultivated by most households in the region. The Kalahari Desert is home to large deposits of precious metals and diamonds. The first diamond mine was opened here in Orapa in 1971. Tourism also adds to the economy of the region. Besides the economical significance of the Kalahari, the desert is also extremely significant from the ecological and environmental points of view. The sands of the desert are packed with cyanobacteria which can fix atmospheric carbon dioxide, thus acting as a natural carbon sink for much of the world. The desert also houses some rare and endangered animals in its game reserves, including the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, the Khutse Game Reserve, and the Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park. 2.

Habitat and Biodiversity While the southwestern half of the Kalahari meets the requirements to be qualified as a desert, the northeastern portion of it receives a significant amount of precipitation, and thus cannot qualify as a true desert. There are great diurnal and seasonal variations in temperature throughout the Kalahari. While in summers day temperatures range between 43° and 46° Celsius, and night temperatures fall to between 21 degrees and 27° Celsius, in winters night temperatures can be as low as -12° Celsius. The arid areas of the southwestern Kalahari Desert support very little plant life, and are covered by vast stretches of xeric savanna comprised by xerophytic plants like savanna grasses, grey camelthorn, shepherd’s trees, and silver cluster-leafs. Several species of acacia grow in the less arid, central Kalahari region as well. The more humid northern parts of the desert, however, have large woodlands, palm trees, and even forests with evergreen and deciduous trees.

Lions, cheetahs, giraffes, zebras, elephants, leopards, meerkats, and antelopes are just some of the mammalian species found in the northern Kalahari Desert. Several species of reptiles and birds are also to be found here. In the arid southern parts of the desert, animal species like gnu, hartebeest, oryx, eland, kudu, and steenboks can be spotted as well. 1. Environmental Threats and Territorial Disputes Large scale cattle farming in the Kalahari Desert poses the greatest risk to the desert habitats there. Overgrazing by cattle leads to loss of vegetation cover on land, and increased desertification as a consequence. The erection of fences and the clearing of land by farmers for agriculture also deprives the native wildlife of their food, thus reducing their chances of survival. A large number of carnivorous species, especially wild dogs and jackals, are killed by cattle ranchers every year to protect their cattle from such predators.

Mining of metals like diamonds also damages the ecological balance of the desert, removes surface vegetation, displaces native populations of human and wildlife, and also extracts large quantities of water from the already water-scarce habitat. Territorial disputes also exist among the diamond miners and the native Bushmen over the land, with the native complaining about the forceful occupation of tribal land by the mining companies. This page was last modified on June 6, 2016. On WorldAtlas.com San | Bushmen | Kalahari, South Africa... San Introduction: The San are the oldest inhabitants of Southern Africa, where they have lived for at least 20 000 years. The term San is commonly used to refer to a diverse group of hunter-gatherers living in Southern Africa who share historical and linguistic connections. The San were also referred to as Bushmen, but this term has since been abandoned as it is considered derogatory. There are many different San groups - they have no collective name for themselves, and the terms 'Bushman', 'San', 'Basarwa' (in Botswana) are used.

The term, 'bushman', came from the Dutch term, 'bossiesman', which meant 'bandit' or 'outlaw'. This term was given to the San during their long battle against the colonists. The San interpreted this as a proud and respected reference to their brave fight for freedom from domination and colonization. Many now accept the terms Bushmen or San. Like the first people to inhabit other countries in the world, the San have an unfortunate history of poverty, social rejection, decline of cultural identity and the discrimination of their rights as a group. Yet, the San have also received the attention of anthropologists and the media with their survival and hunting skills, wealth of indigenous knowledge of the flora and fauna of Southern Africa, and their rich cultural traditions.San people speak numerous dialects of a group of languages known for the characteristic 'clicks' that can be heard in their pronunciation, represented in writing by symbols such as ! or /. Made up of small mobile groups, San communities comprise up to about 25 men, women and children. At certain times of the year groups join for exchange of news and gifts, for marriage arrangements and for social occasions.

Historical background: Not related to the BaNtu tribes, the San are descendants of Early Stone Age ancestors. Clans and loosely connected family groups followed seasonal game migrations between mountain range and coastline. They made their homes in caves, under rocky overhangs or in temporary shelters. These migratory people do not domesticate animals or cultivate crops, even though their knowledge of both flora and fauna is vast. The San categorized thousands of plants and their uses, from nutritional to medicinal, mystical to recreational and lethal. San men have a formidable reputation as trackers and hunters. San trackers will follow the 'spoor' (tracks) of an animal across virtually any kind of surface or terrain. Their skills even enable them to distinguish between the "spoor" of a wounded animal and that of the rest of the herd.At about the beginning of the Christian era a group of people who owned small livestock (sheep and perhaps goats) moved into the northern and western parts of South Africa and migrated southward. These pastoralists, called Khoikhoi or 'Hottentot' resembled the San in many ways and lived by gathering wild plants and domesticating animals.

Coincidently in the eastern parts of the country another migration was occurring - the BaNtu speaking peoples were moving southward bringing with them cattle, the concept of planting crops and settled village life. Ultimately, the 'Hottentots' met these black-skinned farmers and obtained from them cattle in exchange for animal skins and other items. Thus, when the white settlers arrived in the mid 17th century the whole country was inhabited byï¿½3 different groups - the hunter-gatherers (San), the pastoralists (Khoikhoi) and the farmers (BaNtu). At first, the San co-existed peacefully with the Nguni (a sub-language group of the BaNtu) speakers (the Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi and Ndebele) who intermarried with the San and incorporated some of the distinctive and characteristic 'clicks' of the San language into their own languages. Contact with Nguni and Sotho-Tswana farmers is depicted in the San rock art. The artists started including representations of cattle and sheep as well as of people with shields and spears, in their paintings.Unfortunately, hunter-gatherers cannot live permanently alongside a settled community and thus problems arose.

When the San fought against the BaNtu, they were at a huge disadvantage not only in numbers but also in lack of weapons. With the Europeans, they were at an even greater disadvantage. The Europeans owned horses and firearms. In this period, the number of San was greatly reduced. They fought to the death and preferred death to capture where they would be forced into slavery.Colonialism destroyed the San migratory way of life, they were no longer allowed to roam freely and trophy hunters destroyed the vast herds of game that formed their principal supply of food. Both Black and White farmers built up huge herds of cattle that destroyed the foods that had been the San staple diet for centuries. Enslavement and sometimes mass destruction of San communities, by both White and Black farmers, followed. Many became farm labourers and some joined Black farming communities, and intermarried with them, which added to the destruction of the social identity of the San people. Social & Cultural life: The San have no formal authority figure or chief, but govern themselves by group consensus. Disputes are resolved through lengthy discussions where all involved have a chance to make their thoughts heard until some agreement is reached.

Certain individuals may assume leadership in specific spheres in which they excel, such as hunting or healing rituals, but they cannot achieve positions of general influence or power. White colonists found this very confusing when they tried to establish treaties with the San.Leadership among the San is kept for those who have lived within that group for a long time, who have achieved a respectable age, and good character. San are largely egalitarian, sharing such things as meat and tobacco. Land is usually owned by a group, and rights to land are usually inherited bilaterally. Kinship bonds provide the basic framework for political models. Membership in a group is determined by residency. As long as a person lives on the land of his group he maintains his membership. It is possible to hunt on land not owned by the group, but permission must be obtained from the owners. The San will eat anything available, both animal and vegetable. Their selection of food ranges from antelope, Zebra, porcupine, wild hare, Lion, Giraffe, fish, insects, tortoise, flying ants, snakes (venomous and non-venomous), Hyena, eggs and wild honey. The meat is boiled or roasted on a fire.

The San are not wasteful and every part of the animal is used. The hides are tanned for blankets and the bones are cracked for the marrow. Water is hard to come by, as the San are constantly on the move. Usually during the dry season, these migrants collect their moisture by scraping and squeezing roots. If they are out hunting or travelling, they would dig holes in the sand to find water. They also carry water in an ostrich eggshell. Hunting Methods: The San are excellent hunters. Although they do a fair amount of trapping, the best method of hunting is with bow and arrow. The San arrow does not kill the animal straight away. It is the deadly poison, which eventually causes the death. In the case of small antelope such as Duiker or Steenbok, a couple of hours may elapse before death. For larger antelope, this could be 7 to 12 hours. For large game, such as Giraffe it could take as long as 3 days.

Today the San make the poison from the larvae of a small beetle but will also use poison from plants, such as the euphorbia, and snake venom.A caterpillar, reddish yellow in colour and about three-quarters of an inch long, called ka or ngwa is also used. The poison is boiled repeatedly until it looks like red currant jelly. It is then allowed to cool and ready to be smeared on the arrows. The poison is highly toxic and is greatly feared by the San themselves; the arrow points are therefore reversed so that the poison is safely contained within the reed collar. It is also never smeared on the point but just below it - thus preventing fatal accidents.The poison is neuro toxic and does not contaminate the whole animal. The spot where the arrow strikes is cut out and thrown away, but the rest of the meat is fit to eat.ï¿½ The effect of the poison is not instantaneous, and the hunters frequently have to track the animal for a few days. The San also dug pitfalls near the larger rivers where the game came to drink. The pitfalls were large and deep, narrowing like a funnel towards the bottom, in the centre of which was planted a sharp stake.

These pitfalls were cleverly covered with branches, which resulted in the animals walking over the pit and falling onto the stake.When catching small animals such as hares, guinea fowls, Steenbok or Duiker, traps made of twisted gut or fibre from plants were used. These had a running noose that strangled the animal when it stepped into the snare to collect the food that had been placed inside it. Another way of capturing animals was to wait at Aardvark holes. Aardvark holes are used by small buck as a resting place to escape the midday sun. The hunter waited patiently behind the hole until the animal left. When this happened, it was be firmly pinned and hit on the head with a Kerrie (club). The San are intelligent trackers and know the habits of their prey. On discovering where a herd has gathered, they immediately test the direction and force of the wind by throwing a handful of dust into the air. If the ground is bare and open, he will crawl on his belly, sometimes holding a small bush in front of him. Hunters carry a skin bag slung around one shoulder, containing personal belongings, poison, medicine, flywhisks and additional arrows.

They may also carry a club to throw at and stun small game, a long probing stick to extract hares from their burrows or a stick to dig out Aardvark or Warthog.Hunting is a team effort and the man whose arrow killed the animal has the right to distribute the meat to the tribe members and visitors who, after hearing about the kill, would arrive soon afterwards to share in the feast. According to San tradition, they were welcome to share the meal and would, in the future, have to respond in the same way. However, plant foods, gathered by the womenfolk, are not shared but eaten by the woman's immediate family. The San make use of over 100 edible species of plant. While the men hunt, the women, who are experts in foraging for edible mushrooms, bulbs, berries and melons, gather food for the family. Children stay at home to be watched over by those remaining in camp, but nursing children are carried on these gathering trips, adding to the load the women must carry.Gender roles are not jealously guarded in the San society. Women sometimes assist in the hunt and the men sometimes help gather plant foods.

Rock Art: Until recently, most amateur and professional anthropologists looked at a rock painting of the San and believed that they could decipher it without any problems. The pieces that they did not understand were passed off as crude art or that the artist had too much to drink or smoke. This has been found not to be the case, and their work is recognised as holding deep spiritual and religious meaning. Contrary to popular belief, these paintings and engravings of strange human figures and animals, especially the Eland (a species of antelope), did not depict every day life but had a deeper religious and symbolic meaning.When shaman (medicine men) painted an Eland, they did not just pay respect to a sacred animal; they also harnessed its essence (N!um). By putting paint to rock, they would be able to open portals to the spirit world.ï¿½San rock paintings are found in rocky areas of the KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and the Western Cape provinces. The San mainly used red, ranging from orange to brown, white, black and yellow in their paintings. Blue and green were never used.

Red was derived from haematite (red ochre), and yellow from limonite (yellow ochre).Manganese oxide and charcoal were used for black; white, which does not preserve well, was probably obtained from bird droppings or kaolin. The blood of an Eland, an animal of great religious and symbolic significance, was often mixed into the colour pigments. Another striking feature of the rock art is the embodiment of action and speed. Human figures are stylized and depicted as having long strides and the animals are either galloping or leaping, or, more subtly, flicking a tail or twisting a neck. Most of the paintings have an underlying spiritual theme and are believed to have been representations of religious ceremonies and rituals. San Belief System: The San belief system generally observes the supremacy of one powerful god, while at the same time recognizing the presence of lesser gods along with their wives and children. Homage is also paid to the spirits of the deceased. Among some San, it is believed that working the soil is contrary to the world order established by the god. Some groups also revere the moon. The most important spiritual being to the southern San was /Kaggen, the trickster-deity.

He created many things, and appears in numerous myths where he can be foolish or wise, tiresome or helpful.The word '/Kaggen' can be translated as 'mantis', this led to the belief that the San worshipped the praying mantis. However, /Kaggen is not always a praying mantis, as the mantis is only one of his manifestations. He can also turn into an Eland, a hare, a snake or a vulture - he can assume many forms. When he is not in one of his animal forms, /Kaggen lives his life as an ordinary San. San Rituals: The Eland is their most spiritual animal and appears in 4 rituals: Boys' first kill Marriage Trance dance A ritual is held where the boy is told how to track an Eland and how the Eland will fall once shot with an arrow. The boy will become an adult when he kills his first large antelope, preferably an Eland. Once caught, the Eland is skinned and the fat from the animal's throat and collarbone is made into a broth. In the girls' puberty rituals, a young girl is isolated in her hut at her first menstruation.

The women of the tribe perform the Eland Bull Dance where they imitate the mating behaviour of the Eland cows.A man will play the part of the Eland bull, usually with horns on his head.ï¿½ This ritual will keep the girl beautiful, free from hunger and thirst and peaceful. As part of the marriage ritual, the man gives the fat from the Elands' heart to the girls' parents. At a later stage, the girl is anointed with Eland fat. In the trance dance, the Eland is considered the most potent of all animals, and the shamans aspire to possess Eland potency. The San believed that the Eland was /Kaggen's favourite animal. San people have vast oral traditions, and many of their tales include stories about the gods that serve to educate listeners about what is considered moral San behaviour. Music & Dance: Of prime importance in all San groups is a ritual dance that serves to heal the group. The great 'medicine or healing dance' and the rain dance were rituals in which everyone participated. During these dances, the women usually sat around a central fire as they sang and clapped their hands. The men then first danced around the women in a clockwise direction and then vice versa.

As the dance increased in intensity, the dancers reached trance-like, altered, states of consciousness and were transported into the spirit realm where they could plead for the souls of the sick.These trance dances are depicted in the rock art left behind by the San. The shamanic figures are often painted in strange 'bending forward' postures. Shamans or 'medicine men' explained later that they adopted this posture during their trance dances because they experienced a great deal of pain when the 'potency' started boiling in their stomachs and their stomach muscles started contracting. They also often experienced spontaneous nosebleeds at this time. These nosebleeds are depicted in the many rock paintings of trance dances. As other groups invaded the territory of the San and influenced their way of life, the pictures of soldiers, wagons and horses served to record historical events. The Kalahari San held similar beliefs and revered a greater and a lesser god, the first associated with life and the rising sun, and the latter with illness and death. The shamans, who went into trances and altered states of existence during ritual dances, thus acquired access to the lesser god who caused illness.

Birth, death, gender, rain and weather were all believed to have supernatural significance, for example, people acquired good or bad rain-bringing abilities at birth and this ability was reactivated when the person died.Another shared belief was the fact that, when the world was first created, animals and people were indistinguishable. People had not yet acquired manners and culture and only after the second creation, were they separated from the animals and educated in a separate social code. Most San believed that upon death, the soul went back to the great god's house in the sky. Dead people could, however, still influence the living and, when a medicine man died, the people were very concerned lest his spirit become a danger to the living. Life of the San today: Today, the San suffer from a perception that their lifestyle is 'primitive' and that they need to be made to live like the majority cattle-herding tribes. Specific problems vary according to where they live. In South Africa, for example, the !Khomani now have most of their land rights recognised, but many other San tribes have no land rights at all.

Few modern San are able to continue as hunter-gatherers, and most live at the very bottom of the social scale, in unacceptable conditions of poverty, leading to alcoholism, violence, prostitution, disease and despair. The last of the hunter-gatherers were forcibly evicted from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve as recently as April 2002, by the Botswana government to make way for diamond mines. A court case is currently in existence to help the San claim their land.The official reason was to provide them with services such as schools and medical services, and to bring them into modern society. In fact, few of these services have materialized, and the San have been confined to bleak encampments in a hostile environment. The San are a friendly, creative, and peaceful people, who never developed any weapons of war, and have lived in harmony with their natural environment for at least 20 000 years. Properly restored to their ancestral lands, and reintegrated into the game reserves of southern Africa, San communities could become self-sustaining. The hardiness of the San allowed them to survive their changed fortunes and the harsh conditions of the Kalahari Desert in which they are now mostly concentrated.

Today, the small group that remains has adopted many strategies for political, economic and social survival. The San retain many of their ancient practices but have made certain compromises to modern living. The westernised myths regarding the San have caused considerable damage. They portray the San as simple, childlike people without a problem in the world. This could not be further from the truth.Due to absorption but mostly extinction, the San may soon cease to exist as a separate people. Unfortunately, they may soon only be viewed in national museums. Their traditions, beliefs and culture may soon only be found in historical journals. Kruger National Park - South African Safari Customer Support Tel: +27 21 424 1037 Fax: +27 21 424 1036 Botswana Botswana COUNTRY OVERVIEW LOCATION AND SIZE. Botswana is a landlocked country in southern Africa, located just north of South Africa. Botswana has a total area of 602,957 square kilometers (232,802 square miles), making it about the same size as the state of Texas.

The length of Botswana's border is 4,011 kilometers (2,493 miles), and its neighbors are Namibia to the west, Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south. The capital, Gaborone, has a population of about 135,000 and is located in the southeast of the country, almost on the border with South Africa. POPULATION. Botswana's population was estimated at 1.58 million in July 2000, growing at the slow rate of .76 percent. The population was expected to reach 2 million by 2030. The birth rate was 29.63 births per 1,000 people, and the death rate was 22.08 deaths per 1,000 people. Approximately 41 percent of the population was less than 15 years old, 55 percent was 15-64 years old, and only 4 percent had lived over 64 years of age in 2000. Botswana is one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa with a fairly homogeneous ethnic background.

The Batswanans make up 95 percent of the population, of which the Tswana tribes constitute 60 percent. The San people (also known as Basarwa, Khwe, or Bushmen) number 60,000. Population density is low due to the harsh climate of the Kalahari desert, at 2.6 people per square kilometer (6.7 people per square mile). The majority of Botswana's people live in the southeast of the country, where the desert gives way to the more fertile land of the Okavango river delta and swamp, and 50 percent of the total population lives within 100 kilometers (62 miles) of Gaborone. At independence in 1966 only 3 percent of the population lived in urban areas, but by 2000 this figure had risen to over 65 percent. The rapid spread of AIDS in Botswana is a major reason that population growth is low. It is estimated that 25-36 percent of the population is infected with the virus, reflecting one of the highest rates in the world. This has caused a great number of social problems including labor shortages and a health care crisis.

AIDS-related health and safety information is openly available, but cultural practices, social mobility, and the fact that Botswana lies on major trucking routes between South Africa and the north have contributed to the spread of the disease. INDUSTRY MINING. Mining provides 86 percent of the country's export earnings, most of this from diamond sales. However, the mining sector employs only about 4.4 percent of the formal labor force. The country has 3 main diamond mines, at Orapa, Lethlakane, and Jwaneng. These are all owned and operated by Debswana, an equal joint venture between the South African diamond mining company De Beers and the Botswana government. Though diamonds dominate Botswana's mining industry, the country is also rich in copper, nickel, and gold. Botswana also has sizable coal deposits. Many of Botswana's mineral resources have not yet been discovered, but are presumed to exist given the country's geology. The area is expected to yield natural gas and crude oil; Central Botswana and the Kalahari Desert are perhaps the most likely sources of new discoveries. Though Botswana has tried to diversify its economy away from mining, the minerals sector continues to dominate the economy.

Fortunately, the Botswana government saved and invested a portion of the country's mineral revenues, producing additional income for the country as well as providing investment capital for new industries. MANUFACTURING. Manufacturing contributes only 5 percent of GDP and employs only 8.5 percent of the country's labor force. Botswana exports most of its natural resources in raw form, with minimum processing. The Botswanan government would like more manufacturing companies to locate in the country, therefore it is focusing on the natural resources that may be used in manufacturing operations. Such resources include soda ash, which is used to produce detergents and fertilizers; and copper and nickel, which are used in electrical components. Other established manufacturing products include cement, food, and beer. In 1997 the Botswana Export Development Investment Authority was established to encourage the export of goods manufactured in Botswana. DEPENDENCIES Botswana has no territories or colonies. BIBLIOGRAPHY Botswana Central Statistics Office. National Accounts Statistics. < . Accessed March 2001. Botswana, Government of. Economic Snapshot: Botswana Economy Facts and Figures. < . Accessed March 2001. Economist Intelligence Unit.

EIU Country Report: Botswana .London: Economist Intelligence Unit, 2001. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. Botswana: Currently Employed Persons by Industry, Region, and Sex. < . Accessed May 2001. Mines 2000. Country Profiles: Botswana. < . Accessed December 2000. Newafrica. Botswana Economy. < . Accessed March 2001. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. World Factbook 2000. < . Accessed July 2001. —Michael Pretes Foragers to First Peoples: The Kalahari San Today | Cultural Survival Cultural Survival Quarterly Magazine Foragers to First Peoples: The Kalahari San Today As the original inhabitants of southern Africa, the San lived for millennia as independent hunters and gatherers. The rich heritage of rock art there is attributed to ancestral San. The San represent for many an unspoiled “natural humanity” living in harmony with nature, and the works of Laurens Van Der Post and films like The Gods Must Be Crazy reinforce this romantic image. The reality for present-day San is different.

They are second-class citizens in the lands of their birth, and suffer daily discrimination at the hands of other ethnic groups. Not so long ago, Tswana tribespeople referred to their San servants as “bulls” and “heifers.” One Motswana, seeing a group of San children playing, said, “If only they went to school they would be people.” (Quoted by Michael Taylor, 2000; see page 57) The San’s history is not unique. Virtually all southern African peoples have experienced wrenching cultural change, war, dispossession, and ethnocide. But the San’s plight was compounded by their status as social outcasts, not only in the eyes of European settlers, but by their fellow Africans as well. As described in the important comprehensive five-volume study, Regional Assessment of the Status of the San in Southern Africa, edited by James Suzman (2001), surviving San were the subjects of special statutes in every country they lived in. Their nomadic ways, essential to their survival, were treated as vagrancy and suppressed. In certain areas repression and violence continue to the present.

It is a tribute to San resilience and cultural strength that they have overcome many obstacles to retain their language, culture, and religious beliefs, even if circumstances have forced them to give up foraging. Coming to political consciousness, some San have recreated themselves as First Peoples, and, with the assistance of sympathetic outsiders, have fought successfully for land and civil rights. While discrimination remains, governments in the region have begun to recognize the San’s uniqueness and to institute at least some policies in support of San development aspirations. This special issue of the Cultural Survival Quarterly will pinpoint areas where serious injustices persist, but will also give examples of communities where small victories have been won in the fight for cultural survival. The San in History Ancestral San peoples have lived in southern Africa since ancient times. The oldest unequivocal remains of Homo sapiens sapiens—dated to 125,000 B.C.E.—have been excavated at Klassies River Mouth east of Cape Town. For thousands of generations the San people lived, hunting and gathering, as the sole occupants of southern Africa. Archaeological evidence records that they lived in small mobile groups with a complex microlithic stone tool technology.

Around the time of Christ some of the San hunters began to herd goats and sheep and later cattle, becoming in time the Khoi peoples, also known as Hottentots. Both San and Khoi retained the unique click languages for which they are famous. In the early years of the Common Era, proto-Bantu-speaking peoples crossed the Zambezi and began their famous southward migration that led to the formation of the powerful Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, and Sotho chiefdoms whose descendants form the large majority of South Africa’s population today. In the East, San and incoming Bantu peoples mixed and intermarried and the latter adopted the click sounds of the Khoisan languages. In the western part of the subcontinent, however, San and Khoi retained their autonomy. They were at the Cape of Good Hope on that fateful day in 1652 when Jan Van Riebeck of the Dutch East India Company landed to establish the first European settlement in what is now South Africa. The ensuing centuries constitute one of the most tragic chapters in the history of European colonialism.

As the Dutch expanded north, they conquered the Khoi tribes, who eventually assimilated and reemerged as the so-called Cape Coloured people. But because they resisted Dutch advances so successfully, the San were branded as incorrigible bandits and hunted down relentlessly by the Dutch (now naturalized as Boers or Afrikaners) in annual extermination raids. By the end of the 19th century, San people were believed to be virtually extinct in South Africa. But beyond the reach of Boer guns, in the German colony of South-West Africa and in the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, San peoples survived and even thrived, and it is in contemporary Namibia and Botswana that most of today’s San live. Distance, and the isolation of the Kalahari Desert and its surrounding regions, proved to be the San’s salvation. Nearly 80,000 San are found there today, with smaller numbers in Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In the 20th century, a number of San groups continued to maintain the small-scale nomadic hunting and gathering way of life recorded by anthropologists and filmmakers.

A larger percentage, however, were drawn into oppressive work conditions and deeper poverty under the domination of both African and White powerholders. In a surprising development, the end of Apartheid brought to light in South Africa San peoples speaking languages long believed to be extinct. They had blended into the rural landscape on White farms or on the fringes of towns until the end of Apartheid allowed them to reveal their identities. Defining San Peoples Today Four criteria are usually applied to identify San peoples and distinguish them from other Africans: —A history of hunting and gathering subsistence. —The possession of click languages. —Self-identification as San. —(Least reliably) a distinct physical type. When all four criteria are present, status as San is virtually certain. But few San today hunt and gather for a living, while some, fearing discrimination, prefer to conceal their San identity. To further complicate matters, many San people identify as such and speak a click language, but in appearance are tall and dark, indistinguishable from their non-San neighbors. A history of hunting and gathering and self-identification as San are probably the best guides to who the San people are.

In the 21st century, San vary widely in their proximity to their hunting and gathering past. Some, like the Nyae Nyae and Dobe Area Ju|’hoansi, were foraging well into the 1960s and 70s (see articles by Biesele and Hitchcock, and by Lee), while others, like the Ts’exa (see Taylor) and the Hai||om (see Widlok) have practiced a mix of hunting, farming, and herding for decades. The majority of present-day San, like the Omaheke Ju|’hoansi of the Gobabis district of Namibia (see Sylvain), live on White farms or in proximity to cattle posts of African neighbors, like the northern !Kung in Ovamboland (see Takada). Thus, San are today found in at least four different kinds of settings: —In independent villages practicing a mixed economy (some Ju|’hoansi, Hai||om, Ts’exa). —Attached to Bantu villages and cattle posts (northern !Kung). —Working on commercial farms and ranches (Omaheke).

—As part of government resettlement schemes (New Xade, some Ju|’hoansi). Situation Reports This issue begins with case studies representing the range of situations in which contemporary San are found. The first four are representatives of the !Kung language cluster. Megan Biesele, Robert Hitchcock, and Richard Lee report on the Nyae Nyae and Dobe Ju|’hoansi. Immortalized through anthropological writing and films about them as successful hunters and gatherers, they are probably the best known of all San peoples. Renée Sylvain reports on the Ju|’hoansi of the Omaheke, a commercial farming district in Namibia where San people exist in a super-exploited, underpaid work environment strongly reminiscent of the Apartheid era. Far to the northwest of Namibia live the northern !Kung, reported on by Akira Takada. These !Kung, distantly related to the Ju|’hoansi, divide their time foraging on their own and working for Ovambo neighbors on farms and cattle-posts. The last three case studies describe the all-too-common experience of San people who have been displaced by the demands of wildlife conservation.

Thomas Widlok reports on the Hai||om, who occupied a game-rich area in northern Namibia until they were forcibly removed from what is now the Etosha National Park, the largest wildlife preserve in Africa. While the Hai||om now eke out a mixed subsistence in less favorable areas, they are currently mobilizing politically along with other San through their membership in the Workgroup for Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA). Michael Taylor reports on the Ts’exa Basarwa of northern Botswana, who are part of a cluster of San peoples known as the River Bushmen of the Okavango Delta, which is a key wildlife area and prime tourist destination. The Ts’exa Basarwa speak eloquently of their history of dispossession. Susan Kent’s work among the Kutse San of central Botswana chronicles another group’s displacement by wildlife interests. Peoples in Crisis Of the serious crises facing San peoples today, this issue will highlight four: forced removals in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, insurgency in the Caprivi Strip, resettlement of refugees on San lands, and the threat of AIDS.

Since 1997, more than 1,000 San have been removed from a game park in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) and resettled in dysfunctional townsites far from their traditional lands. The adjustment period has been a difficult one, compounded by allegations of arbitrary arrests and torture by overzealous wildlife officers. Robert Hitchcock, who has been tracking the CKGR story for over 20 years, reviews the history of the area and the political, legal, and human rights issues at stake. Junko Maruyama has researched New Xade, the government townsite to which the San people were brought after removal. She documents the ingenious strategies the |Gui and ||Gana have improvised for making a living in a new land. Kazuyoshi Sugawara vividly records the silenced voices of the dispossessed |Gui and ||Gana peoples. The CKGR situation has dominated news of the San in world media, but less well-known flash points pose even greater threats. The Caprivi is a narrow strip of Namibian territory stretching 300 kilometers eastward into central Africa.

The Khoe San, the oldest inhabitants of the Strip, have been caught in the crossfire between the opposing forces on the tense border between Namibia and Angola. Robert Hitchcock and Megan Biesele describe how roughly 1,000 Khoe have fled into Botswana to escape harassment, torture, and extra-judicical killings by one side or the other. Refugees also lie at the heart of a third crisis facing the San. The largest refugee camp in Namibia is at Osire in the center of the country, where refugees from Angola and other African countries are being housed in overcrowded and inadequate conditions. A recent proposal by the Namibian government would settle more than 20,000 refugees at a new location, 200 kilometers northeast of Osire, at M’Kata, in the center of Tsumkwe District West. But this destination is the present home of some 3,000 San people. The residents of the Tsumkwe district argue that the introduction of so many settlers, a seven-fold increase over current population numbers, would overwhelm the local populace and permanently foreclose their own development opportunities. Robert Hitchcock and Joram |Useb investigate the issues.

Soon after the triumph of non-racial democracy in 1994, Nelson Mandela’s South Africa faced a new and ominous threat. Today southern Africa has the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world, ranging from 19.54 percent in Namibia to a staggering 35.8 percent in Botswana. Geographically, the San people are at the epicenter of the world region hardest hit by AIDS. Based on five years of HIV research in Namibia and Botswana, Richard Lee and Ida Susser explore how the AIDS epidemic has affected the San. Promising Directions After years of facing overwhelming problems, the San are at last seeing some small victories, particularly in the areas of cultural production (music and art) and natural resource management. In the early 1990s a group of San in the village of D’Kar, Botswana embarked on a project to produce works of art in a unique San style. In media such as acrylics and printmaking, the Kuru Artists Group’s output has been exhibited in galleries in South Africa and Europe. Mathias Guenther provides a sense of the social context of San art, and discusses another San artist group at Schmidsdrift, South Africa.

San music has also found an international audience. Emmanuelle Olivier, a Paris-based ethnomusicologist, has brought troups of Ju|’hoan singers and dancers to Europe, where they have been well received. Their music recordings are finding a niche in contemporary world music. Robert Hitchcock describes one of the most promising developments for the San—the emergence of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) schemes, where local groups can manage their own resources in programs that combine subsistence with tourism and conservation. In the last five years, 28 of these schemes have been launched in Botswana alone with another 14 in Namibia. Hitchcock also reveals that recent policy shifts in Botswana could seriously affect these programs and even reverse their successes. Because tourism remains a controversial topic on the agendas of indigenous peoples, Kxao ‡Oma, a prominent Ju|’hoan political activist, and Axel Thoma, a long-time development worker with the San, discuss its pros and cons and conclude that tourism can actually benefit the San—as long as they can exercise control over it.

And John Arnold, elected head of the San Traditional Authority in Tsumkwe District West, describes the successes and failures of the Omatako Rest Camp, a pioneering tourism program in his district. TOCADI (the Trust for Okavango Cultural and Development Initiatives), based in Shakawe, Botswana, is currently drilling boreholes in the Dobe area to facilitate tourism ventures and make a bid for San land rights. Kabo Mosweu, a San trust development worker, describes the trials and tribulations of finding water and securing land rights for the Dobe Ju|’hoansi. San Political Mobilization The past 30 years have witnessed a marked change in world public opinion on the question of indigenous rights—a change highlighted by the UN’s declaration of 1995-2004 as the Decade of the Rights of Indigenous People. Crucial to this development has been the growth of political consciousness among indigenous peoples themselves. Delayed by isolation, lack of schooling, and ongoing discrimination, the wave of consciousness raising that swept the indigenous world in the post-WWII years did not reach the San peoples until the 1980s.

The decade since 1990 has seen a burst of political organizing for change on the part of the San people. This issue of the Cultural Survival Quarterly carries a series of reports on non-governmental organizations in which San and sympathetic outsiders have combined to address past wrongs and support San aspirations for a better life. The section opens with in-depth reports on WIMSA, an umbrella organization based in Windhoek, Namibia, and on the Kuru Development Trust and TOCADI, both based in Botswana. Sidsel Saugestad reports on the University of Botswana/University of Tromsø San Initiative. Three reports cover the work of the South African San Institute (SASI): Nigel Crawhall explains the Northern Cape Language Recovery Project, SASI lawyer Roger Chennells reports on the ‡Khomani land claim, and Irene Staehelin covers the !Khwa ttu San Culture and Education Centre. A report on the Kalahari Peoples Fund, a Texas-based nonprofit foundation supporting San development initiatives since 1973, concludes the section.

How You Can Help The final section includes a directory of the non-governmental organizations supporting San people, along with contact addresses, phone and fax numbers, and email and Web addresses. Lists of films and recent writings on the San will help readers looking for more information. CSQ Issue:

Question: In which African country does the majority of the Kalahari Desert lie?
Answer: BOTSWANA